Event #2122

Box ON! 2011 - Mind Bending Clues

112 Main St S, Rockcut, ON

Registered Boxes: All Traditional HH/Cootie/Flea Postal LTC Event Box Traveler Other

Starts	Sat September 24, 2011 10:00am
Ends	Sat September 24, 2011 4:00pm
Owner	Fiddleheads
Admins	Fiddleheads
Signups	49/∞
Location	112 Main St S, Rockcut, ON View Map
Add to Calendar	Google calendar ICS file (e.g. Outlook, iCal, etc.)

Description

MORNING LOCATION: ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, 112 MAIN ST, ROCKWOOD
We are meeting in the church hall, which is right on highway 7/Main St.

AFTERNOON LOCATION: ROCKWOOD CONSERVATION AREA, 190 FALL ST S, ROCKWOOD
Meeting area will be marked on the map handout. It's near the children's playground.

Schedule of Events:
Event starts at 10:00. We will start on time as we only have the church for the morning.
1. Mind Bending Clues – Fiddleheads
2. Ciphers – RubberRabbit
3. Logic and Research Puzzles, Creating Good Clues, and Appendix (Other Hints) - Fiddleheads
4. Advanced Ciphers – RubberRabbit, Gwynlais, Trailfeathers (Optional)
5. Compass Skills – Jiggs (Optional)
6. Exchanges and Raffle 11:30
7. Lunch, and off to hunt Mind Bending boxes at Rockwood Conservation Area
8. 4:00 is latest time to get clue for last box.

This year's Box ON! will focus on solving and creating great clues - codes, ciphers, puzzles, creative descriptions. In the morning we will teach you how to solve some standard clues, and then in the afternoon you'll have ten boxes to find using your new skills. If you solve all ten boxes, you'll be led to a final event stamp!

To keep costs down, we're using a conservation area with a small entrance fee. We'll be at Rockwood, about 15 minutes east of Guelph. Rockwood has some unique and beautiful geography. We'll just have to deal with the weather.

Jun 26, 2011: Mind Bending planning
Already 38 people have signed up for Box ON this year. It's great! Considering the size of the crowd and the consistently wet weather we've had this year, I decided to go ahead and book an indoor facility for the morning, at a local church. It will be in Rockwood proper, and is easy walking distance to the conservation area.

I'm going to put out a jar for donations to cover the insurance. You can all rest easy knowing you can spill hot coffee on yourselves and blame the church! ;)

Is anyone interested in running a mini-seminar (5-10 minutes) on solving a particular kind of code/cipher? Let me know and I'll pencil you in.

Lone R has helped me locate all the geocaches in the CA so we can hide our boxes safely. I have seven guest carvers working on stamps. Planning is well under way!

Aug 20, 2011: Kids coming to Box ON?
If you are bringing your children to Box ON (and of course they're welcome!), can you please let me know

1. How many, and how old they are

2. Whether you would feel comfortable with them doing a separate, supervised activity during the classroom code session (for example, a logbook craft, simple stamp hunts, etc). I'm thinking of asking our babysitter to come run something like this.

3. Whether you are bringing (dragging) someone who might prefer to be an adult supervisor/presence rather than sitting in on the class. I would still have the babysitter there running things.

Aug 20, 2011: Raffle Items for Box ON
Do you have any raffle items you could donate for Box ON?

People have donated all kinds of things in the past, from books to handprinted t-shirts, from carving rubber to handmade logbooks, from chocolate to toys. I have been offered a very generous family pack of tickets to the Science Centre already.

If you think you have something to offer, let me know by AQmail, and then bring it to the event. Money made from the raffle helps cover the cost of running the event.

Sep 9, 2011: Go Lightly hint 3
Capote

Sep 9, 2011: Two Weeks to Go! - What to bring?
In addition to your regular letterboxing gear, you will be able to enjoy the event better if you also bring:

-your potluck item. We have a couple of kids coming with peanut allergies, so if you make something with nuts, please label it.

-a compass if you have one - but don't go out and buy one if you don't

-your personal travellers, if you have them, and the solved clues to others' travellers

-a small pair of scissors

I now have about 2/3 of the stamps for the event in my possession. You are all in for a real treat! If you haven't sent me a stamp you offered, please do that now, or let me know if you can't get to it right away so I can make other arrangements.

Sep 17, 2011: Last Minute Details
How to get there?

St. John's Anglican Church is right on Highway 7/Main St. in Rockwood. If you're coming from Guelph (or up Guelph Line from the 401), it's right after 7 does a 90° turn. Coming from Acton, it's just after Guelph St. Directly across the road is the Bell building, and kitty corner is the best bakery in town. The church itself is up on the hill. We'll be in the hall at street level.

For our American friends: I Google mapped the route from Buffalo, and it sends you on the 407 for a short jaunt, which is a very expensive toll road. Instead,

-take the QEW to the 403 Eastbound (Toronto)
-get off at Guelph Line and head north

It'll only add 3 minutes to your drive and save you a bundle.

Parking: There's a lot right next to the church hall. In the event that we fill it up, we can use street parking around back, or the funeral home if there's no funeral.

If you're bringing kids, please send them with a stamp and an ink pad for their own boxing activities in the morning. I have hired two teenage babysitters to run our activities, and Mr. Fiddleheads will help keep an eye on them, too. They will be on the lawn right next to the church hall. We'll have snack for them.

Sep 21, 2011: What if it rains?
Never fear!

We'll be inside for the morning, and there's enough room for the kids to be inside, too.

As for the boxes themselves, I planted today with the possibility of scattered showers in mind. The walks are short, and most are under cover of cedars. But we'll hope for sunshine.

Everything is ready and waiting! See you Saturday!

Sep 26, 2011: Box ON Wrap Up
First off, I'd like to thank everyone for attending. Some of you came a long way, and 6 of you had to endure crossing the border and going through customs. That's dedication!

The boxes are all listed now (under Mind Bending Clues). I'll leave them in place for a little while longer, and then I'll be moving a few to safer hiding places. If you completed the hunting but didn't get to the baseball diamond in time, send me the answer to the puzzle, and I'll snail mail you the final images.

I have acquired one blue fleece jacket, child's size 6. The word Dream is printed all over it (wouldn't it be a coincidence if it belonged to Dream?)

I have to go back to Rockwood to move some of the boxes within the next couple of weeks. If anyone has left anything else (at the church or the park), let me know.

Extra thanks go to all who donated carves; to those of you who set up all the food in the kitchen (Dunch Ladies, I think, and Meg and Flightpath); to the men who helped me with the dishes (BBT and Turtlews); to all of you who donated raffle items; to the 3FunkyMonkeys for bringing a compass for everyone; to RubberRabbit for the ROT13 keychains and her cipher session; to Trailfeathers for the advanced cipher session; to Bumble for handling the registration and making those fabulous gingerbread houses; and to Mr. Fiddleheads who held my family together over the last week. I'm sure I've forgotten someone, but please know I appreciate everyone who helped out. It really was a collaborative effort.

I really enjoyed hosting the event and spending time with all of you. See you next year!

Oct 6, 2011: Rockwood movie shoot
Hi everyone

I went back to Rockwood today to remove the underwater box (alas, too late! it was gone already, and several of the trees around it had been cut down), and they were actually fiming while I was there. I looked up the name of the production company, and here's what imdb says:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2050633/

It's supposed to be released next year, so if you're into horror, you may just want to go see it, and see if you can spot some of the landmarks from your letterboxing adventure.

Valerie

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